Announcements

Oct 30, 2013

The IDB releases “The Orange Economy: An Infinite Opportunity,” a book on the creative and cultural economy

In a bid to encourage debate in Latin America and the Caribbean on the contribution of creativity as a key element of economic and social development, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has published on its web site the book “The Orange Economy: An Infinite Opportunity” (in Spanish only, PDF), written by IDB officials Felipe Buitrago and Iván Duque.

It is a creative and innovative text that draws on international studies and data bases. The sources cited include the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the prestigious consulting firm Oxford Economics and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, among others. The 240-page work was published in collaboration with Grupo Editorial Santillana and its trade imprint Aguilar and will serve as a working tool at the IDB in a sector that has not been thoroughly examined in the region.

Through charts, graphs, fold-out pages and QR codes (linked to documents and videos), the book makes an institutional proposal, outlines ideas and presents key tools for understanding the importance of the cultural and creative economy, offering readers a unique interactive experience.

The tome displays data such as, if the so-called Orange Economy were a country it would be the world's fourth largest economy, it would rank ninth in exports of goods and services and it would represent the world's fourth largest workforce.

John Howkins, one of the world's most respected writers in this field, says the book provides “a highly original and keen analysis of creativity and innovation; its point of departure is a thorough knowledge of the creative economy but its greatest achievement is the imagination and skill with which it describes how it is related to everything else and what it means for us.”

The book will be available on the IDB web site on October 31 (Orange Day). Click to download